Your water bill Is different.
What changed
City leaders, including Clay Madden, say the higher bills are the result of a major overhaul to how water and sewer charges are calculated. Officials argue that Mandeville’s water system has been underfunded for years and that the previous billing approach no longer covered the true cost of operation. The updated rate structure, they say, is intended to align customer bills with the actual expenses required to maintain and operate the system.
Many Mandeville homeowners say their water bills have increased dramatically in recent months. Reports show some bills are four, five, or even ten times higher than before. In several cases, residents have received charges as high as $2,200, even though household water use has remained the same.
"I was gone half the billing period, and the usage is still tens of thousands of gallons more than normal."
Under the revised billing structure:
- Water is billed in usage-based tiers rather than a flat rate.
- Sewer charges are now tied to metered water use instead of a uniform monthly fee.
- This means customers with higher water use, such as irrigation or pool filling, may see much higher sewer charges, even though that water never enters the sewer system.
A COUNCIL MEMBER DESCRIBES A KEY CHANGE AT A RECENT TOWN HALL:
- Under the prior system, many households paid a flat sewer fee of about $20 per month.
- With the current system, sewer charges are applied per 1,000 gallons after the first 3,000 gallons, in addition to tiered water rates. This can cause bills to rise sharply during months of high usage.
City officials also say many of the highest bills were tied to a 48 day billing cycle during an unusually dry summer, and they expect charges to decrease as water use declines.
WHY RESIDENTS SAY THE BILLS DON’T MAKE SENSE
Even as city officials point to the need for rates that reflect actual system costs, many residents say their bills remain difficult to reconcile with their usage. Residents commonly point to issues such as:
- Meter readings that appear significantly higher than what households believe they consumed.
- Sewer fees applied to water used outdoors, such as irrigation or filling pools, that never enters the sewer system.
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Bills rising so sharply that they place a serious burden on residents living on fixed incomes.
"Water used for irrigation does not enter the sewer system, so why are sewer charges applied to every gallon?"
City Public Works officials are encouraging residents who question their bills to request service verifications or on site inspections so water meters can be checked and manually read.
STEPS YOU CAN TAKE NOW
If your water or sewer bill appears unusually high:
- Check your meter readings and compare them with past billing periods
- Submit a work order or request a meter review through the city
- Reach out to Public Works to arrange an on site inspection
FOR BILLING INQUIRIES OR CORRECTIONS
THIS IS MORE THAN AN ANOMALY
It’s a DEFINING MOMENTConcerns about billing accuracy, affordability, and transparency have left many residents unsettled by the new system. As water use declines with the end of summer, people across the community are still looking for clear explanations and workable solutions as seasonal bills begin to level out.